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Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban. Image courtesy Shigeru
Ban

By Ulf Meyer

In traditional
Japanese architecture the walls are made of paper. This motive of
the shojiwas
re-introduced into contemporary architecture
by Shigeru Ban - with
great success. The use of recycled paper and cardboard as a
construction material has made him one of the world's most popular
architects.

Born in Tokyo in 1957, Ban studied
architecture in New York and Los Angeles before setting up his own
practice in Tokyo.Ban is best known for
his designs for emergency shelters made of cardboard tubes for
victims of civil wars or earthquakes.

Few people know that
the majority of Ban's work is unrelated to his label as a
'humanistic and ecologically minded' architect. They are glistening
white steel structures that serve as mini villas, photo studios or
dentist offices. Ban became famous in Europe with the Japanese
Pavillon for the EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany, but recently he
got a lot of attention for the new Centre
Pompidou in Metz, Franceand the Tamedia
building in downtown Zürich,
Switzerland. Here, wood was used
as a load-bearing material for an urban multi-story building for
the first time.

Unlike other
'starchitects', Ban does not repeat a signature style over and
over -instead, he prefers experimenting with new
materials. The Zürich building is the latest rather sensational
result of this curiosity. Fitting neatly into its urban context,
the building - made of 2,000 m3 of spruce
- is not an experiment for the sake of an
experiment: Rather it creates beautifully understated, naturally
ventilated and attractive workspaces for journalist that seem
communicative and generous, warm, light and friendly. No nails, no
screws and no glue were used in the entire structure. The pre-fab
elements were laser-milled with such precision that they just fit
together - like in the traditional Japanese carpentry. Ban picked a
sustainable material that not only looks good but smells and feels
good, as well.

The façade is made up
of different shutters - another motive that can
be found in Ban's lesser known works such as the 'Shutter House for
a Photographer' or his
apartments in Manhattan, New York. While the shutters are
definitely contemporary building elements, they also are a
reference to Japan's past: The shoji walls not only are
translucent, they also slide open like shutters.

The Hyatt Hotel
Foundation from Chicago gives its award to a Japanese architect for
the second time in a row: The 'Nobel Price of architecture', as it
is often referred to, was received by Toyo Ito last year. This is a
proof of the world-wide popularity of the ephemeral Japanese
architecture of our time.

The use of wood in multi-storey buildings is an art form almost completely buried a hundred years ago. Reinforced concrete structures became the norm worldwide. In recent years, however, the sustainability debate has brought a renaissance to wood and an interest in large, urban, wooden structures has awakened. Shigeru Ban, well-known for his use of paper and paperboard, has built an office building in Zurich made entirely of wood, or to be more precise 2,000 m3 of Austrian spruce.